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7 vulture species on red list

The first Saturday of September every year is observed as International Vulture Awareness day by the Endangered Wildlife Trust’s Birds of Prey Programme (EWT-BoPP), its partners and associates including provincial conservation bodies and several other NGOs involved in vulture research and conservation in South Africa.

The purpose of this day is to create awareness of the continued plight of all vulture species and to highlight the work done by conservationists to monitor populations and implement effective measures to conserve these birds and their habitats.

South Africa is home to no less than 9 vulture species. Seven of these species are listed in the Red Data Book of Birds of South Africa, Lesotho and Swaziland (Barnes, 2000) as facing a certain degree of threat of extinction. The Egyptian Vulture Neophron percnopterus is one of only two bird species listed as ‘Regionally Extinct’ in South Africa. The Bearded Vulture Gypaetus barbatus, whose range in southern Africa is restricted to the Maluti-Drakensberg mountains in South Africa and Lesotho is classified as Endangered and continues to decline in numbers. The Cape Vulture Gyps coprotheres only occurs within southern Africa and the conservation of this species remains one of the main focal areas of the EWT-BoPP. Other species, such as the Lappet-faced Torgos tracheliotus, Hooded Necrosyrtes monachus, White-headed Trigonoceps occipitalis and African White-backed Vulture Gyps africanus mostly occur in large conservation areas and are listed as Vulnerable.

threats from poisoning to electrocution

Vultures are faced with a range of threats such as poisoning, persecution, electrocution and collision with powerlines, drowning in farm reservoirs in drier parts of the country, shortage of safe food supplies and loss of suitable habitat. Recent research has shown that these birds are highly mobile and can cover several 100 kilometres in a day in search of food.
This makes the implementation of effective conservation measures to benefit these species a daunting task which needs to be approached from a national, or more likely an international perspective.